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TRAVEL A HERCULEAN TASK FOR SOME: Today the East Coast and Midwest brace for more snow after a frosty Thursday with weather that snarled road, rail and air travel. Amtrak will be running trains on the Northeast Corridor and other snowy routes today, but expect fewer than normal in New England. Flying could be a headache too — there were over 10,000 flight delays and over 3,000 cancellations in the U.S. yesterday alone, according to FlightStats.com. The D.C. government dispatched 200 snow plows to clear city streets Thursday evening. Kevin has more in his story (http://politico.pro/1cMs7JV) or check the latest flight info yourself via FlightStats (http://bit.ly/19O6zbv) or FlightAware.com (http://bit.ly/KmfL0U).

MID-MONTH MAYHEM: It’s not just the expiration of government funding that deserves your attention in the middle of January. The House Transportation Committee kicks off work on the next transportation bill with a Jan. 14 hearing, though no witnesses have been announced for “Building the Foundation for Surface Transportation Reauthorization.” (http://1.usa.gov/1cphOH7) And the Transportation Research Board meets Jan. 12-16 with sessions on every transportation topic imaginable — and a few you might not believe. The huge and wonky conference is the 93rd annual: http://bit.ly/1ddXppw

One more thing to watch for: One more issue for the list of things to track in early 2014 — federal officials will decide in the “coming weeks” whether or not to mandate connected-car tech designed to prevent accidents, ABC News reports. http://abcn.ws/Kmff34

NEW TO TWITTER: Polly Trottenberg, who’s leaving a top DOT post to be New York City transportation commissioner, has joined Twitter: @PollyTrott. Marcia Ferranto, president and CEO of the females-in-transportation group WTS International, said she was glad another woman got the NYC job: “It’s important for young women and men in the field to be able to look up and see women in leadership roles. Workforce development strategies that advance women help grow a more gender-diverse industry and close the growing gap between the thousands of jobs that will be open in transportation over the next several years and the number of qualified professionals to fill them.”

FUNKY COLD FRIDAY. Thanks for reading POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on trains, planes, automobiles and ports, where today we’re celebrating the tenth anniversary of NASA’s “Spirit” rover landing on the surface of Mars. Check out some of the amazing pictures it’s sent back: http://1.usa.gov/1coyiD2. I’m all ears for a hot tip, scoop or anonymous rumor: asnider@politico.com. And there’s more if you follow me on Twitter: @AdamKSnider.

OIL TANKERS IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Andrew Restuccia and Kathryn report for Pros: “Monday’s fiery North Dakota train explosion is reviving long-simmering questions about the safety of transporting crude oil by train and whether many tank cars are sturdy enough for the job. The accident, which occurred when a BNSF train pulling 104 crude tankers plowed into the grain cars of a separate derailed train hauling soy beans, is the latest in a string of major rail incidents involving tank cars carrying oil from the booming Bakken formation. It comes about six months after a train packed with crude derailed in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, killing nearly 50 people in a massive explosion. Shipments of the Bakken, North Dakota crude oil — which may be more flammable than other kinds of crude — are increasing. In a 2012 report, the National Transportation Safety Board said that in the previous three years rail shipments of Bakken crude have increased from 500 carloads to more than 13,000 carloads, and it estimated that volume will grow to about 70,000 annually.” Their full story on Pro: http://politico.pro/19NZhI0

PHMSA safety alert: The agency issued an alert and noted that “recent derailments and resulting fires indicate that the type of crude oil being transported from the Bakken region may be more flammable than traditional heavy crude oil.” http://1.usa.gov/1eZ54z3

BACKUP CAMERA RULE MOVES FORWARD: A long-delayed and much-watched rule on backup cameras in cars — a mandate designed to end deaths of children who were unseen behind a car and run over — has moved on to the White House for review. The Office of Management and Budget’s regulatory tracking webpage (http://1.usa.gov/1d2tfuK) says the final rule, which would set new standards for backup cameras in cars, should be issued by January 2015, as former Secretary Ray LaHood had promised. The rule was originally mandated in a 2007 law and named after Cameron Gulbransen, a child who was killed after being backed over by a car. But it has been delayed several times since then, frustrating safety advocates who have ramped up pressure on the administration to finalize the rule. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent the proposed rule to OMB for review on Christmas day.

But more steps remain: “It’s a positive sign that DOT is making progress on the rule in response to our lawsuit, but the process is far from over,” said Henry Jasny, senior VP & general counsel for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, one of the parties to a lawsuit to force the rule’s release. “The administration has reached this point in the process previously only to have the rule languish for over a year and then be withdrawn. The administration needs to follow through this time and finally issue this rule that Congress ordered to be completed by 2011.”

RADEL COMING BACK: T&I member Trey Radel will return to Congress next week, just a few months after being arrested for cocaine possession. The committee faces a number of big votes on Amtrak, highway and transit issues this year, so his return will be appreciated by committee leaders. Radel is also a noted fan of #WRRDApuns. More on POLITICO: http://politi.co/1coSB32

More T&I: Committee Republican Steve Southerland made Alex Isenstadt’s list of 10 must-watch House races. See all ten on POLITICO: http://politi.co/1ix4Pvy

YOUR FIRST 2014 WEEKEND ON METRO: WMATA continues work on its rail system, with trains every 20 minutes on the Green, Yellow, Orange and Blue lines. There’s trains every 10-20 minutes on the Red Line and none of the system’s 86 rail stations are closed. Details: http://bit.ly/1co7vqn